"Mark? Roger?" The distant voice, accompanied by the sound of someone knocking on the metal door, pulled Mark out of his sleep. Rubbing his eyes and reaching for his glasses on the crate-turned-bedside table, he sat up in his cot, scrunching his face in reaction to the bitter morning-taste in his mouth. Once the glasses were on his face, Mark chanced to glance over at the window and instantly frowned. There was quite a bit of light shining in through the window. What exactly was the time, anyway? He groped around the bedside table for his watch to glance at it. The moment he saw the time, he gave a startled cry. 10:45? They were supposed to be at the church in one hour!
Stumbling out of his room in just his boxers, he dashed across the Loft and stormed into Roger's room, shaking the sleeping musician awake and flashing his watch in his face when one of his eyes opened a crack. Roger took the watch and blinked sleepily at it before his brain registered what he was seeing.
"Fu-k!" he cried, leaping out of bed and hurrying into the bathroom for a quick shower. As the bathroom door closed, someone knocked on the Loft door.
"Guys! What are you doing in there?" Emily's voice called, starting to sound impatient. "Come on, someone answer the door. I'm two seconds away from coming in from the fire escape." Within seconds, Mark pulled open the door, and all thoughts of the late hour vanished from his mind at the sight of the photographer in the pastel blue dress she was wearing for the wedding. Sure, he'd seen her in a dress before, back when she'd worn her mother's old beatnik dress last Halloween. But this time… there was no denying that blue was definitely her color.
"Wow." Mark breathed. "You… you look nice."
"Thanks, and those are very stylish boxers." At Emily's words, Mark instantly remembered he wasn't anything apart from the striped boxers. But before he could manage to sputter out an awkward apology, Emily cast him a knowing look.
"You and Roger slept in, didn't you?" she asked.
"Yes, we did," Mark admitted sheepishly.
"Okay, then. Hurry and grab your tux. You can use my shower downstairs to clean up a bit."
"Thanks," Mark smiled slightly at Emily's nonjudgmental response, ducking back into his room to grab his tux before exiting the Loft and heading down to Emily's pad, pausing to greet Penny, already in her cream-colored flower girl dress, as they passed on the stairs.
Half an hour later, the boys had finally showered and dressed. Roger was giving himself one final glance in the bathroom mirror, visibly uncomfortable with being dressed so formally. Mark had to fight back a chuckle at seeing him continually tug the silver jean chain he'd attached to the tuxedo's black trousers, remembering how he'd insisted in wearing that chain that always hung from his jeans.
"Ready to go?" Mark asked. Instantly, Roger stepped out of the bathroom, looking completely on edge.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Can't keep Mimi waiting for much longer, can I?"
"Then let's get you to the church," Mark smiled. "Emily and Penny are waiting in the van, and we're already running late." However, as the two started to head to the door, it slid open and Emily and Penny stepped in, with expressions that said 'can this get any worse?'
"So, Roger," Penny announced. "Collins mentioned you're quite good at reciting funeral masses. If you don't mind, would you care to say one for Mom's van's carburetor?"
"The van won't start?" Roger cried incredulously. "How are we going to get to the church on time?!"
"Okay, don't panic," Emily breathed, heading to the phone and dialing a number. "I'm going to call up Nana, since we were supposed to pick her up on the way. Maybe she'll have an idea." The group waited in silence for Nana to pick up the phone. "Hi, Nana, it's us....Yes, I know we're supposed to be there by now, but my van's carburetor died, and it won't start. Do you have anyone you know who could give us a ride?....Frank Smiley? You mean he hasn't gone into retirement in Florida yet?.....Well, if you think he'd be willing… hold on, he wouldn't be using the company car, would he?....Yes, it matters! It's a wedding, Nana. Showing up in a car like that is kind of in bad taste.....No, I don't think… Nana, no, wait!" Seconds later, she grimaced and hung up.
"So, do we have a ride?" Mark asked.
"Yes, Frank Smiley. An old bridge friend of Nana's," Emily confirmed. "That's the good news."
"And what's the bad news?" Roger asked hesitantly.
"He might be using his company car to bring us to the church."
"So, what's the problem?" Mark wondered. Emily paused for a moment before replying.
"Frank Smiley," she announced. "Is a hearse driver for the funeral home."
Outside the church, Collins was waiting by the doors, watching for any sign of Roger, Mark, Emily, Penny and Nana. The five of them were supposed to have been there ages ago, but no one answered when they called up the Loft or Emily's pad.
"You see them yet?" Joanne asked, appearing at his side.
"No, not yet," Collins shook his head. "What's keeping those guys? The wedding's supposed to begin in ten minutes. Is anyone answering the phone?"
"No," Joanne also expressed negative success at reaching the missing group. "They'd better get here soon. Robbie's starting to suggest distracting everyone with a stand-up comedy act. He might be talented in the band, but he's not that good with telling jokes."
At that moment, a sudden distraction arrived in the form of a black hearse pulling up and stopping in front of the church doors. At first, Collins and Joanne figured that the hearse had made a mistake and arrived at the wrong church. But then their confusion was replaced with surprise when the back door opened and Roger stepped out, followed by Mark, Emily, Penny and Nana. The group quickly made their way up the walk into the church, with rushed greetings of acknowledgement to Collins and Joanne.
"Hi, Uncle Collins, Joanne!" Penny waved as she hurried by to locate Maureen, who was supposed to be in charge of styling hair for the ceremony, while Roger and Mark disappeared to get to their allotted locations. "Sorry we're late!"
"I'd better go see if I can find an extra seat for Frank!" Nana announced, dashing by as well. "Letting him attend the wedding is the least we can do."
"Whoa, Emily!" Collins grabbed the photographer's arm as she passed. "What happened to you guys? And what's with the…" Collins started to gesture to the hearse. However, Emily cut him off before he could finish.
"Long story. Ask us again at the reception!" With that, Emily turned and hurried off after Penny, pulling Joanne with her. Collins blinked and glanced one last time at the hearse as the elderly driver stepped out and started walking up to the church. Shaking his head, the anarchist turned and headed back inside to tell Robbie the stand-up comedy distraction was no longer needed, deciding he'd be looking forward to his friends' explanation of the hearse escort.
AN: Sorry for the rushed chapter. I was suffering writer's block when I wrote this.
The bit about Frank Smiley is based on a true story. When my parents got married, some of my dad's elderly relatives were too old to drive themselves down to the wedding. So their neighbor, a hearse driver who is known in family lore as Smiley, drove them down to the wedding. Smiley ended up staying for the wedding, and I believe he even appears in some of the wedding photos. The funniest part is Mom thought he was someone from Dad's side, while Dad thought he was relaited to Mom. They didn't find out who he really was until afterward.
Anyway, I believe the next chaper's the last, although it might get split into two chapters once they're written.
